Commentary: A referendum against our kids
Special to CalMatters
Last year, the California Legislature passed the toughest law in the nation to protect kids like mine from getting hooked on Big Tobacco’s menthol cigarettes and sugary-sweet, candy-flavored e-cigarettes. As a parent and a volunteer advocate for Parents Against Vaping E-cigarettes, I felt like I could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
The feeling was short-lived. A month before this life-saving law was set to take effect, the tobacco industry submitted signatures to reverse this measure through a referendum on the 2022 statewide ballot.
Candy-flavored products hook kids on nicotine. Tobacco companies know this. Using flavors like cotton candy, bubble gum and gummy bears, they have created an epidemic of e-cigarette use among our youth. One in five high school students now use vape products and 81% who have ever used a tobacco product started with a flavored one.